The Blogosphere, Where a Tawdry Culture Goes to Die

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The Blogosphere, Where a Tawdry Culture Goes to Die

Civility? They're proposing a code of conduct for the blogosphere to ensure civility online?

Who's kidding who here?

Before you can expect a bunch of utterly spoiled, self-indulgent bloggers (i.e. the kind who indulge in their online mudslinging) to practice civility, you might try restoring a bit of it to what passes for civilization these days.

Civility is all about self-restraint. It's not about being told by someone else to say "no," but finding the inner resolve to say it to yourself. Call it self-discipline. Call it having a little class. Whatever name you give it, it's almost completely absent from modern society.

And in a culture where idolatry of the crass and vulgar encourages the mantra of instant gratification and me-so-important, what the hell do you expect?

Unfortunately, you can't just pass a bunch of rules to make incivility go away. Someone who has been getting his way since he was 2 and has grown up into a self-involved, bombastic narcissist isn't going to have a come-to-Jesus moment just because he's offended somebody's sense of etiquette. You can put earrings on a hog but it's still a hog, y'know?

So trying to impose some sort of artificial code on the blogosphere is pretty much a waste of time. Love the sentiment, though.

As long as we're here, there are some other issues concerning that amorphous wall of sound that are worth touching on.

This "journalism" thing, for example.

What's to be done about the bloggers, the nonprofessionals, who dabble in "journalism" and call themselves "journalists"? You wanna play that game? OK. Then you should be held legally responsible for everything you post, just like a real journalist. If you post something you know to be misleading or downright false, libel should land on your cute little blog like an anvil hitting the sidewalk from 15 stories up.

Not only that, you should be called out and cast out, just like Jayson Blair was. Or Stephen Glass. Or anyone else who has sullied the profession by playing it fast and loose with the truth.

So that means you should start documenting your sources, just in case. (A "source," incidentally, is someone you talk to who gives you the information or expertise needed to make your story whole and legitimate.)

Oh, and based on what I read, a lot of you could benefit from a writing class, too.

Then there's the anonymity thing.

If you're going to fire a rocket at someone in a blog post, or anywhere else, at least have the class to use your real name and stand behind your vitriol. Anything less makes you a coward and invalidates whatever bile you've spewed.

My name is on this, and I'm calling you gutless if you don't sign yours. What are you going to do about it, blogger boy?